Testimonials from our students

I enrolled in the workers' class of the Optics course at the Zaccagnini Institute at the ripe old age of 50, at a time in my life that was not so easy when I needed to reinvent a profession.

I found well-prepared and even nice teachers and an efficient organisation that was able to manage even the first very tough phase of the COVID 19 pandemic.

At the end of the two-year course, now 52 years old, I graduated with top marks and not only did I find a job after 3 months, but every now and then I receive new job offers!

Highly recommended to young and old!

First of all, the idea of the optician as a profession has always appealed to me.

After almost a decade of precarious work in the commercial sector, I decided that I should do something to differentiate and retrain myself, specialising in a field that mainly interested me, in order to have a more solid and more concrete chance in the working world.

By combining my previous commercial experience and acquiring technical and practical knowledge with the two-year course for opticians, I was able to get myself back on track professionally.
I took part in an Open-Day at the Bologna branch of the Zaccagnini Institute, thus being able to acquire all the information I needed to understand whether it could be the right choice for me.

I decided to enrol in the two-year course to qualify as an optician, and already at the beginning of the second year I had the opportunity to be hired as a salesperson at a major multinational in the sector.
I thus completed the second pre-school year as a working student, and am now working as an optician in a private shop in my home town.

I started the course at the age of 40, putting myself on a completely new front with studying and taking exams.
I thank the management, secretariat, lecturers, tutors and assistants for their advice and support throughout my journey.

I am a 24-year-old young optical worker, enrolled at IBZ since November 2018.

I immediately found a very professional and caring environment for technical/practical teachings.
As a student/worker, I found a very cooperative and understanding environment with the needs of us workers.
The commitment required is no small thing, but passion and the desire to achieve must win out over moments of tiredness and discouragement.

The professors are very understanding and helpful and have accompanied me through my studies with great precision and discretion.

I am the son of opticians, and I am currently concluding the one-year specialisation course in Optometry at the Zaccagnini Institute, Bologna branch.
My journey at Zaccagnini began in September 2015 with the two-year course qualifying me to work as an optician. I easily fit into a class of young people my age with whom a perfect feeling was created, and the same happened with the teachers and school staff, always ready to follow us through any difficulties and stimulate us to do better.
The large amount of practical work in the workshops and clinics allowed us to learn the job first-hand, giving us the opportunity to try out every professional tool and create a solid foundation before entering the working world.
The two years of optician training soon came to an end and I immediately started working as an optician at Ottica Fanton in Pergine Valsugana. After a year working as an optician and a second year as a volunteer in Southeast Asia, I decided to continue my studies and enrolled in the Postgraduate Course in Optometry. The Course, due to COVID-19, was largely distance learning, a novelty that we had to adapt to with great effort, but, nevertheless, we managed to do the required activities as well as possible. The professors were very understanding and helpful and helped us as much as possible in achieving this goal, especially in the distance activities.

The course at the Zaccagnini Institute was, through comprehensive training in both theory and practice, a valuable springboard for entry into the world of work, which has allowed me to start working for a multinational company, a leader in the sector, even before finishing the Optometry specialisation course.

During the two-year course for optometrists, I became so passionate about the content that I decided to study it further, attending both the contactology master's course and the optometry year with satisfaction and profit.
The training opportunities, both theoretical and practical, offered by the institute allowed me to acquire the necessary skills to carry out this profession to the best of my ability, having at my disposal state-of-the-art equipment, highly professional lecturers and, in addition, in-company internships.

The interdisciplinary congress, organised every year, is, moreover, a valuable as well as enjoyable experience, both as a moment of high training and as a refresher and recreational opportunity. During these years, I have also met people with whom I have established a strong friendship that has been maintained over time.

A journey that brought me to my destination.

In 2017 I looked around, I needed to change a few things in my life, a plan B that worked and a profession that I was passionate about. I approached the world of optics and was fascinated.

Two years of commitment, perseverance, hard work and great learning.

I came from a completely different sector and found a job before even obtaining my final qualification. Today I can say, with pride and conscience, that this path has really changed my life. If you want to achieve a goal, you just have to fight hard to achieve it. Optician's word!

I am the son of opticians. My family owns an optician's shop in the province of Udine.
I enrolled in the Course for Opticians in 2016 and, having qualified as an Optician, I completed my training by enrolling in the Postgraduate Course in Optometry.

I chose Istituto Zaccagnini because some of my parents' Optometrist colleagues had recommended it to me and because the courses and services on offer seemed more up-to-date and in line with today's needs.

Today I can say that I am satisfied with the choice I made three years ago because at the Zaccagnini Institute I met many teachers who, in addition to passing on their passion for optics and optometry, made the teaching alive and concrete since they are all also working in the profession. Some of the younger teachers, with their international experience, encouraged me to complete my training with the Optometry Course, which is not just a continuation of the optometry course, but an upgrade in a professional and scientific field that will allow me to assist many more people and solve many more situations and conditions of sight.

Furthermore, I have enjoyed my time at the Zaccagnini Institute because the environment is familiar and relations between students, teachers, secretaries and the director are personal and, at times, confidential, even though there are many students enrolled in the optician, optometry and masters courses.

Mi sono iscritta a Bologna al corso biennale per Ottici dell’Istituto Zaccagnini dopo parecchie ricerche, in quanto avevo deciso di provare una nuova strada e intraprendere il percorso per diventare ottico.

La mia scelta è ricaduta sullo Zaccagnini principalmente perché istituto tra i più rinomati nel settore e inoltre perché offre la possibilità di frequentare un corso per studenti lavoratori.

Ho iniziato il mio percorso piena di entusiasmo ma anche un pò frastornata e intimorita perché mi trovavo ad affrontare un’esperienza nuova che avrebbe impegnato i successivi anni della mia vita, implicando non pochi sacrifici.

Ebbene al culmine di questo corso, con il diploma di abilitazione in tasca, sono piena di gioia per i risultati ottenuti e, con sorpresa, lascio un pezzetto di cuore a Bologna. Ringrazio Fabiola, Chiara e Cristina, che oltre ad essere professionali spesso sono state anche di supporto (perché i momenti di sconforto in ho pensato di non farcela li ho avuti) e sono senza dubbio colonne portanti. Mi hanno seguita prima, durante e dopo il percorso.

Ringrazio il Direttore che si è sempre mostrato presente e disponibile al confronto.

Ultimi, ma non per importanza, i miei insegnanti che mi hanno formato, seguito, consigliato e motivato. Anche a loro va il mio ringraziamento.
Sono passati ormai alcuni mesi dagli esami di abilitazione ma la mia gioia e la mia soddisfazione non sono ancora scemate. Questa è una scuola da cui non esci solo con un diploma in tasca, ma con un importante bagaglio di vita.

I started my journey within IBZ in 2015, enrolling in the two-year optics course. I am very satisfied with the professional training I received in both theoretical and practical aspects, thanks to the lively and stimulating teaching of prepared, experienced lecturers and assistants, who can pass on knowledge and passion; and the constant support of the secretariat and management, which were impeccable.

I became very passionate and enriched and deepened my knowledge and skills by attending the optometry and contactology specialisation courses, and I will continue to do so, thanks to the thousands of opportunities that the school offers including the annual interdisciplinary congress, attended by international professionals.

Even before finishing the optometry course, despite the family business, I found a job with a multinational company and at this point I said goodbye, with nostalgia, to Bologna, the institute, the wonderful people I met and with whom I shared this unique experience that I would recommend to anyone.

With these few lines I will try to convey what Istituto Zaccagnini really is.

After having experienced other schools in the optical sector, I enrolled at the Zaccagnini Institute, in the second year of the optician course in the 2016/2017 school year. I was welcomed with great pleasure by the director, who has always shown a willingness to dialogue with his pupils, also giving us the great opportunity to participate in the interdisciplinary conferences organised each year by the Institute and offering us further experiences of professional growth and maturation.

The teachers, all extremely well prepared and animated by a great desire to pass on their knowledge to their pupils, knowledge which today constitutes my greatest passion. The school organisation and the student secretariat, with kindness and patience, have always followed us pupils step by step.

Today, having qualified as an optician, I am about to complete my year of specialisation in Optometry and I can say that the Zaccagnini Institute has given me a great and solid education.

My biggest thank you for who I am today goes to the Zaccagnini Institute, which is my second family. In fact, after training me, the Institute found me an excellent first job in a leading company in the sector.

Having completed this year's specialisation in optometry and the previous 2 years of the optician course, I can only be satisfied with this course and proud of my achievements.

It was the most heartfelt and definitely the right choice I have ever made, I would do it all again. Professors who are very well prepared, demanding but at the same time very human and understanding; secretaries who are always very kind and helpful; clinic assistants who are always ready to help and pass on their knowledge; a director who is very good, present, open to dialogue and also very nice.

In short, I felt at home in this school from the first moment, despite the constant commitment to study, one always breathes harmony and serenity.

What is most rewarding, however, is arriving at the finishing line, not being able to write my CV in time with the invaluable help of the secretaries and finding a job straight away. Based on my entirely positive experience, I can only recommend this school, it really is a good investment for one's future.

At the end of my three-year course of study, I would like to leave a small testimony regarding the training course I undertook in September 2016 at the Zaccagnini Institute.

Not having a family background in optics, I was unfamiliar with this world. The decision to begin studying in this field really opened my mind to the vastness of notions related to this field, and I owe this to the knowledge I learned and consequently to the teachers who were very knowledgeable and always available at all times.

As the years went by, I became passionate about it, which was supported by the fact that the hours of theoretical lessons were always backed up by an equal number of hours on a practical level to learn directly in the field.

I am very satisfied with the choice I made, both in terms of my professional training and the serene and constructive environment within the Zaccagnini Institute. Today I am a qualified optician and I am concluding my one-year specialisation course in Optometry.

Moreover, thanks to the Institute, I was able to start a work placement with an important company in the optics sector; in fact, I have been a trainee at Fielmann in Trento for 6 months now. In conclusion, I would like to add that having decided to study optics and optometry has made me realise how vast this world is and how much we can still learn.

My testimony can only be positive.

An institute of great quality in the world of optics. Maximum commitment from all collaborators; from the director to the professors to the secretaries; who do their best to ensure that only competent people come out of the Zaccagnini Institute.

I can only thank everyone for the help and support they have given me.

I will take with me all the knowledge I have learnt over the years, which will be fundamental in making me a professional in the sector, and I will proudly continue to attend the courses and congress that the Institute holds each year.